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Whether it was the week off, wanting revenge against the Dodgers, or just the natural cycle of baseball, Chris Carpenter returned strongly to the mound for the Cardinals’ second half opener.
After struggling mightily in his last two outings - who knows if the line drive that hit him was affecting his delivery - Carpenter allowed just four hits in eight innings. Carp picked up his 10th win of the year, 78th as a Cardinal.
Seeing Carp pitch as dominant as Wainwright has been lately provides a huge sigh of relief. The bottom part of this rotation is a gigantic unknown, and with Carp listed day-to-day before the break, it looked even worse.
Much ado has been made about the Cardinals inconsistent offense, but these are the stats -
- April - 2.65 ERA, .255 BA, 15-8 record
- May - 3.20 ERA, .267 BA, 15-14 record
- June - 3.84 ERA, .257 BA, 13-13 record
- July - 4.57 ERA, .257 BA, 4-6 record
The positive correlation lies in the pitching, as it often does especially in the playoffs. Hitting plays a role, but the loss of Brad Penny and the lack of a fifth starter seems to have done more harm. Now the Cardinals offense has been far from impressive, but it is just not as important as pitching.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt when the Redbirds put up seven runs as they did tonight.
